Interviews at the New Haven Police Department concerning the drop in murders in New Haven during January through March 2012 with New Haven Assistant Chief of Police Achilles Generoso, left, and Sgt. Alfonso Vazquez, right, officer in charge of the detective bureau. Mara Lavitt/New Haven Register

A chart at the New Haven Police Department concerning the number of murders and non-fatal shootings in New Haven during January through March 2012. Mara Lavitt/New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN -- The city has had two homicides so far this year. At this point in 2011, 13 people had been killed, en route to a total 34 homicides.

Police Chief Dean Esserman said that was little consolation for the two families who lost loved ones this year, or the other people who have lost sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, to violence.

"We need to bring justice to those who are still waiting for it," Esserman said. "There are hundreds of families over decades who are waiting for the New Haven police to call them and tell them that we are arresting the person we feel is responsible for the murder of their loved one."

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While police contended with near record-high homicides last year, killings this year are dramatically lower and, if sustained, could rival record lows of a decade ago. Non-fatal shootings also are down.

While Esserman said he prefered to look forward, he also looked back.

In an interview Tuesday, he said he planned to bring back retired detectives to serve with current detectives on a new cold case unit. He has been meeting with retired investigators since he returned to New Haven in the fall to solicit ideas.

He cited a historic Roman senator, who said that "when Rome calls, no man's life is his own."

Police and academics agreed that there is no one explanation for the large reduction in homicides so far this year -- or that the low total is necessarily sustainable. All agreed that the 34 homicides last year was an aberration.

Part of the reduction could be attributed to the cyclical nature of crime, officials said. Some could be simple luck. Some might be attributed to the reinvigorated model of community policing.

"Certainly there is no one thing that can cause a reduction in crime, particularly in violent crime," said John DeCarlo, professor of criminology at the University of New Haven and former Branford police chief.

But he added that "smarter policing" and adhering to "empirically proven strategies" play a role.

While many other factors come into play, he said, "that does not negate the value of good, strong community policing. When the police department engages the community, this is the result."

This much is clear. Last year, the homicide total reached levels not seen since the city's most violent era in the 1990s. This year, two people have been killed in the first four months.

Assistant Chief Archie Generoso, a former investigator with the state's attorney's office who was hired by Esserman as an assistant chief, said some dangerous people have been taken off the street, not just by detectives and patrol officers, but also through renewed partnerships with parole and probation officers who sit in on weekly CompStat meetings.

An added patrol presence has an effect, he said, on deterrence by keeping the criminals off balance.

"It's a combination of things," said Sgt. Al Vazquez, head of the major crimes unit. He pointed to collaboration with federal agencies, significant arrests of people police viewed as "menaces to society," efforts to regain community trust and cooperation and greater success in solving homicides.

It's inevitable that regular arrests in new and older homicides would enter the psyche of potential shooters and make them think twice, he said.

"It's human nature."

Generoso said he believed the department was making headway in winning back community trust, and that plays a role in crime reduction, too.

"They know what's happening. They see it every day. They can let us know who has the gun on the corner, who's fighting with whom," he said.

But he didn't believe it was happenstance that violent crime is down.

"What the department has been doing for the last several months can't be explained away. We're attacking things on all levels trying to reduce the violence."

Esserman said that is only half of the story.

"The second part of that is we need to bring justice to those who are still waiting for it."

He said he hoped to bring back retired detectives part time and partner them with current detectives to tackle old cases.

He pointed to the December arrest in a 2004 double homicide. Two retired detectives came back to meet with the families, along with the detectives who secured the warrant, he said. He described the meeting with the family as "remarkable."

Esserman said several retired detectives have expressed a willingness to serve on the squad, although he hadn't yet figured out the logistics of bringing retired cops back part time to help investigate cases.

"I'll let people figure that out. There's an old saying, 'Where there's a will, there's a way.' I see the wills."